New hockey coach Oltmans in the spotlight
KUALA LUMPUR: The Asian Champions Trophy, which begins today in Muscat, Oman today will be the first test for Roelant Oltmans as the national men’s hockey coach.
The 64-year-old Dutch coach was hired on Oct 1 to chart the fortune of the national team and help Malaysia qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Malaysia have not featured in the Olympics since 2000 Sydney edition.
For the Asian Champions Trophy, Malaysia finished third in the last four edition in Ordos, China (2011), Doha (2012), Kakamigahara, Japan (2013) and Kuantan (2016).
Six teams will feature in the tournament in Oman and Malaysia will open their campaign against Japan at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex today.
The other teams in the fray are defending champions India, Pakistan, South Korea and Oman.
Malaysia have a score to settle with Japan as they failed to qualify early for the 2020 Olympics after they lost to Japan in the final of the Asian Games in Jakarta last month. In the Games, Malaysia took a comfortable 5-2 lead but lost 3-1 in the penalty shootout after the score was tied at 6-6 in regulation time.
Malaysia will not have the services of penalty corner specialist Muhd Razie Abdul Rahim, who is nursing a hamstring injury, and midfielder Fitri Saari, who opted out due to his Universiti Malaya convocation on Oct 23.
Oltmans said that the absence of the duo will give him a chance to see how the young players perform in the tournament.
“The tournament in Oman is part of the team’s preparation for the World Cup (in Bhubaneswar, India from Nov 28 to Dec 17.),” said Oltmans.
The top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals after the completion of the round robin matches.